CHENNAI: South Korea have been dominating the global archery scene for some time now. How best to catch up with them? Train with them at their premier school!That is what five of India’s premier archers did. With the help from funds from Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai, Bombayla Devi, Jemson and Yashdev went to the Kim, Hyung-Tak Archery Training Centre in Chungbuk province. They were also accompanied by coach Chungda Sherpa.
It was a twenty day exposure trip and the contingent came back on February 12. Atanu has already been at the coaching centre two times before. The group had been impressed with the Kolkata archer’s tales about the place and decided to go as a group this time around.“I had decided to go long back. My previous stint there had helped me pick up a few nuances that have been helping me a lot. “The others also decided to go there. It is the best place to learn as the school has best equipment and coaches on offer and it was a real eye-opener,” the 25-year-old told Express from Jamshedpur, where the next camp is set to start within a week.
The recurve team has not had the best of times recently, failing to win any individual medal last year. They finished the year with a lone medal — silver at the Asian Championship. But Atanu feels the changes that the archers are trying to bring about will take time but results will eventually follow.“I know sports is a result-oriented business. But when trying to improve, you cannot leave a particular thing midway. These small changes in technique take time to implement successfully but I’m confident results will follow soon,” the OGQ-sponsored athlete added.
With the Archery Association of India still under turmoil, a lot of hue and cry has been raised by archers in the past of how the lack of a foreign coach is hurting their prospects. But the Tata Archery Academy graduate has a different perspective to this.“The appointment cannot be made in a haphazard manner. It should not be a foreigner just for the sake of it. We need a coach who can help us reach the next level.
Till then, we are fine without a foreign trainer.”
This is an important year for Indian archers with the Asian Games coming up and Atanu feels a strong association would have been helpful. “Years when there are multi-national events, we need all the help we can get. The most important thing that needs to change is planning. If the camps and selection trial dates are intimated in advance along with selection trial rules and norms, it would be of great help for all archers involved,” he signed off.
ayantan@newindianexpress.com